Anon

Poetry. "What's at stake in this book is nothing less than the fascination and frustration informing the felt distance between printed word and peopled world. With Pope-like precision, Pusateri would parlay 'the me who is he' into a quick-witted poetic for our precarious times, each pointed sentence pointing up both an artifice 'illuminated by its own refrain' and the sharPoetry. "What's at stake in this book is nothing less than the fascination and frustration informing the felt distance between printed word and peopled world. With Pope-like precision, Pusateri would parlay 'the me who is he' into a quick-witted poetic for our precarious times, each pointed sentence pointing up both an artifice 'illuminated by its own refrain' and the shared punch lines of those who will 'know which years were feast and which ones famished.' That would be us, people. Like this reader, readers will be sure to pilfer from anon, presently"--Joe Amato. Chris Pusateri is the author of one book of poetry Berserker Alphabetics (xPressed, 2003) and five chapbooks. His poetry and critical prose have appeared in many publications, including American Book Review, Chicago Review, Jacket, Verse and others. A librarian by trade, he lives in Colorado with his partner, the poet Michelle Naka Pierce....more

Community Reviews

If Piccasso were a poet, this would be his signature. Juxtaposed mismatched fragments of observation and generalization lain into quick paragraphs of Burroughsesque tellings that, as a whole, splendidly jive. The snippets of quasi-philosophical thought, as in “chapter 1.1” where we are informed “West is not west if you’re west, south or north of it.” for some reason had me thinking of The Wizard of Oz’s Scarecrow. Then “The senior aanon by Chris Pusateri - BlazeVOX Books / 1934289671 / 76pps /

If Piccasso were a poet, this would be his signature. Juxtaposed mismatched fragments of observation and generalization lain into quick paragraphs of Burroughsesque tellings that, as a whole, splendidly jive. The snippets of quasi-philosophical thought, as in “chapter 1.1” where we are informed “West is not west if you’re west, south or north of it.” for some reason had me thinking of The Wizard of Oz’s Scarecrow. Then “The senior author is the first one listed, an et. al. Othered at the ass-end of the listing experience.” brought his receiving his diploma (brain) scene to mind. But then a sullen eloquence sneaks in .. “Listen to my lips is a deaf breath” replacing TWOO with a more sultry visual. There is a cornucopia of great lines in each piece; “Rage is anger that doesn’t follow the recipe.” - “Wouldn’t it be funny if all wars were the products of misinformation?” (You mean they aren’t?) - “If you have a vivid imagination, you don’t need anesthetized.” - “He said: if it’s culture I need, then I’ll lease it.” - “It melted his ice cream to think so.” But allow me this poem in it’s entirety, as my favorite;

vi.x

The hangover crept up on him midafter noon. Sing to the bird its song. Syntactical tomfoolery, void where inhibited. He’s from the Canadian Midwest, which isn’t much better. Batter-dipped cover corner, but no mention of apartheid. Danger, beauty, then danger more, nowever, how not now, then when? Every price has its discount. Prisoner stripes are horizontal and referee stripes are vertical. It had all the makings of a trust issue. Nobody orders it for the parsley, but no one would stand to be deprived. White is equated with surrender. He was white and getting whiter.

Brings to mind one of those puzzles where all the pieces are there, in front of you, in a nice, tidy box and you have to arrange them to create the intended picture. Yeah, that’s what it’s like.

Chris Pusateri is the author of several books of poetry, most recently Common Time (Steerage Press, 2012), which was shortlisted for the Colorado Book Award. His poetry and critical prose appears in many periodicals in the US and elsewhere, including American Letters & Commentary, Chicago Review, Jacket, Verse, Poetry Wales and others. A former resident of London, Mexico City and Kingston (JChris Pusateri is the author of several books of poetry, most recently Common Time (Steerage Press, 2012), which was shortlisted for the Colorado Book Award. His poetry and critical prose appears in many periodicals in the US and elsewhere, including American Letters & Commentary, Chicago Review, Jacket, Verse, Poetry Wales and others. A former resident of London, Mexico City and Kingston (Jamaica), he currently lives in Denver, where he works as an outreach librarian....more